Suspect Ordered to Stand Trial in Double Homicide

JACKSON, Mo. - A Missouri man will stand trial for two counts of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of a man and woman in Cape Girardeau.

After a preliminary hearing Thursday, a Cape Girardeau County judge ordered 21-year-old Kenneth D. Bell Jr. to stand trial for the deaths of Shannon James and Misty Cole on Feb. 7 inside their Cape Girardeau apartment.

A witness to the shootings testified that the confrontation began when James bumped into Bell as the men walked along a sidewalk. Bell later went to the couple's apartment and shot both of them several times.

The Southeast Missourian reports a detective testified that Bell said he didn't even know the victims' names before the shooting.